Any musicians here?

Are there any musicians here? What instrument(s) do you play? I would love to chat with other musicians who are actively playing (whether at home as a hobby or professionally).

My musical journey: I started studying music when I was 6. I played multiple woodwinds and some piano through high school and college. I was encouraged to major in music but I didn't due to performance anxiety. (Believe it or not I majored in dance, interesting how my performance anxiety was so prevalent in one art form and not another.)

In my 30s I picked up some guitar, and lately I've been having a sort of pre-mid-life renaissance (crisis) and I've been heavily rededicating myself to the piano, the guitar, practicing my flute again, I've picked up the banjo and mandolin, and now started learning the violin. Oh, and the harmonica. Lol. I work more than full-time running a business so I don't have time every day to practice each one, but I try to spread it out.

For me the experience of listening to music and playing are very different. I very much enjoy them both, but listening to music, for me, provokes a lot of thought and consideration, whereas when playing, I entirely lose myself in the sound I'm trying to produce. It's one of the things I can do that turns off my PTSD and anxiety entirely (as long as I don't have to play in front of anyone!).

Anyone else here play an instrument? What has your musical journey been? I am interested in connecting with those who play.

Seesaw

Uhm, my musical journey...
Played flute in junior high.
Didn't want to learn the way they taught.
Didn't learn.
Gave up.
Attempted piano at some point because my friend had one.
Gave up on that too.

I sort of always wanted to learn guitar, but money, and I don't know if I could stick with it.

Have you thought about a Ukelele? They are pretty inexpensive and you can learn to strum a few essential chords from a book or YouTube. You can find free songs/chord charts online too.

Practicing is always a hard thing with music. That's typically what deters people. That you have to have some discipline to practice every day. I wasn't always so great with practicing every day on my own (I had practices every day with the orchestras I played in) but as I've gotten older, I look forward to the half hour to an hour I set aside each day for music. Just like people look forward to their favorite TV show. Instead of TV, I have this.

Also...harmonicas are cheap and again, online learning. I picked up a $5 harmonica and have been playing with it. It's very satisfying.

You could also check Craigslist for guitars. It's not hard to learn 3-5 chords and play a few songs. You have to build up some calluses on your fingers, but it's not hard to get the three standard chords that EVERY song is made up of (almost every song) and then you can strum and play a few. Good enough for Christmas carols or the campfire.

I want to learn to play the harmonica. I don’t think it’s possible. I have a very hard time learning anything new. Plus I never stick to anything I start unless I’ve been doing it for many years. I can finish books, puzzles, TV series. But I can’t even finish a box of cereal. Despite the fact I always tell myself “this one you have to finish.” It never happens.

I did play the viola for a couple years in elementary school.

It's an interesting instrument. Easy to play a few songs, hard to be really good, like most things. Again, great de-stressor. I always say I'm just making noise for fun and don't worry about sounding good or for others to enjoy.

I really want to be able to play it the way the guy plays it in that Pot Of Gold song.

I want to be able to play it while I play piano like Billy Joel.

I've been playing guitar since I was 14 (40's now) I used to have a band, but gave that up when I had kids. I really miss playing with other musicians and playing loud. I have written and recorded (on my reel-to-reel and my tascam cassette 4-track) songs I've written, and also recorded my band live. My user name is actually the title of one of my songs.

These days, I just play at home for fun and relaxation.

Does having my AA degree in music count? I started with piano when I was 5.

Junior high I took up flute but didn't have lessons other than what I learned & practiced daily on my own....was first flute in orchestra by the time I graduated junior high. Got to conduct that orchestra for my junior high graduation too.

Spent high school doing marching band in fall & concert band in spring & joined a community youth orchestra for awhile.

Decided to start as a music major in junior college. It was interesting learning all types of music theory from the different periods & writing music that was performed in several original composition workshops. Did many flute solo performances & was involved in many chamber groups with my flute....some really challenging performances.

I ended up buying a professional sterling silver (not plated) flute just before graduation that I really enjoyed playing.

When I tramsferred to the 4 year university competition was way out there on flute. Some really outstanding players. I took a few lessons from a flute player in the Los Angeles Philharmonic but she was obnoxious. Then I found a really sweet flute professional to take lessons from who had actually taken lessons from Jean Pierre Rampaul & she got him to come to our university & do a workshop. Lol.....I practiced 8 hours a day seriously trying to get better. I got better but not good enough to compete in the real performing world & earn enough money to live on.

That was when I decided to keep music as a hobby & get a REAL career that would pay my bills (went into computer science as a junior)

I totally enjoyed my music performing at the level I was capable of. Found a local flute choir to perform with out in Calif. In a break off group from that we did some professional performing at the local performming arts center & weddings.

I did some choral conducting at my church as kind of a fill in.

I brought my flute with me when I moved & was going to be performing that Christmas but my truck was broken into on my drive back to Ca that fall & the one bag that had all my receipts in it & my flute in the bottom was stolen. I never got it back. A sweet friend got a student flute fir me to play but the pads were shot & honestly it was like someone riding a plow horse when used to riding a grand prix dressage horse.

Oral surgery has made it too difficult to even bother trying flute again. I play at my keyboard & I have been the sit in organist at the previous church I went to when our organist was on vacation & also led the singing in that tiny church.

Now I just play at my keyboard once in awhile. Yep.....I miss performing with my flute & the challenge of preparing for the performance....but I have had to come tp terms with that having been a different chapter in my life.

Several of my friends have amazing baby grand piano's that I have spent time practicing on when farm sitting for them.

I was actually shocked when I transferred to the 4 year college as a junior. One of the music major requirements was passing a piano proficiency test. I passed but definitely not well enough to be a keyboard major either.

I started piano when I was 6. Was good at it. Studied at the Montreal Conservatory of Music in my teens, and got my grade 10. Then we moved and my Dad sold the piano. Yeah that bit.

Didn't do anything musically for years - it brought up too many memories.

Then when I was in my early 30's, I decided I wanted to get back into music, but not piano. Decided I liked the sound of the harp, so I would learn to play harp, and not knowing anything about the instrument just went out and bought a used lap harp. Then found a teacher. Totally backwards.


I've since been through several harps and currently play a large Celtic floor harp. I mostly play celtic and Latin American which is really fun. I still take lessons, although they're as much social as lessons at this point. I don't play for other people, I just play for myself, for fun.

splitimage

Well, I technically am, but most of my passion for it was destroyed over the past few years. The only performance opportunity I have is playing with a salsa band my ex also plays with...so it's miserable. Supposedly, I'm supposed to be playing with a community band soon. Ugh. Something to do I guess.

Always wanted to play in a rock/pop band. I'm primarily a horn player and not a guy, so it's harder. It's not like other bands don't use horns...

Musicians?

I’m a totally bad musician who can (poorly) read music and ‘play’ many reed instruments and make dogs whine to the screeching of an untuned violin.

I consider myself to be an un-musician, I guess. Never attempted to woo others with an oboe.

Edit to delete a whole bunch of details, because I tend to write too much and don't want to drown everyone in my details!

Just wanted to say, yup! I don't tend to think of myself as a "musician", but looking back at my history, I guess I am. I've always been drawn to the piano, and finally, as an adult, am getting to take lessons. I've been with my current teacher about 10 years, and really enjoy it. He also tends to be a sane, grounding influence in my life, and has provided more "therapy" than any therapist that I've actually seen.

I enjoy practicing, but don't do it enough... I struggle a lot with being overwhelmed by life stuff, and feeling tired and exhausted, which makes it hard. But even if I can manage just a couple nights during the week, it helps.

My weirdest thing: I'm drawn to TV theme music. I play everything, but I play more TV theme songs than any of my teacher's other students . For awhile, I was getting pretty good at "Everybody Loves Raymond". And right now, I can do a passable version of "The Office" (not the best arrangement, but it's fun and recognizable)!

I play a Fender Strat - not well, mind you. I have no interest in being a professional or band level player. I don't practice as much as I should since I usually play when everyone is asleep. I pop on the headphones and let it rip. But I'm OK with it. I sort of noodle about. I hear songs on Sirius and I go home and try to duplicate the sound. I don't have any formal training and I don't take it all that seriously. I focus on rhythm parts and easy solos. I just approach it from an enjoyment perspective. I love music and consider myself a musical historian of sorts. I play the stuff that I like and focus on things that I can accomplish. My interest spans Eminem to the Byrds, the Spinners to Gerry and Pacemakers.

I wish being really talented was inherited because my 3rd cousin was a professor if coral music at USC. His choirs performed around the world. As a kid I remember going to Disneyland at Christmas & he conducted the choir that performed for their nightly Christmas celebration after the Main Street parade. When I was a music major I actually went with a friend to see him conduct a Rennaissance performance at USC with period instruments & singing.....ah how nice to have that kind of natural talent.

One neighbor plugs in his tiny Fender speaker and riffs the blues on an ancient Rickenbacker bass. Always a joy to hear.

I think that I had too many friends who were real musicians — studying with Jean-Pierre Rampal then moving to big-city orchestras — to think my talentless, er, talent worth bringing out (because that would have been embarrassing!). But I enjoy listening so much.